Payroll Burden Calculator
Your true labor cost is far more than wages. Employer taxes, benefits, and insurance add 20 to 40 percent on top of every salary. See exactly how much each employee actually costs you and where that money goes.
What is the true cost of each employee on my payroll?
Your true labor cost is far more than wages. Employer taxes, benefits, and insurance add 20 to 40 percent on top of every salary. Here is what makes up that burden.
FICA
Employers pay 7.65 percent of each salary for Social Security and Medicare. That is fixed by law and applies to every W-2 employee.
FUTA
Federal unemployment tax adds 0.6 percent on the first $7,000 of wages per employee.
SUTA
State unemployment tax varies by your claims history. Florida's new employer rate is 2.7 percent, and it rises or falls based on your experience.
Benefits
Health, dental, vision, retirement, and other benefits typically add 10 to 20 percent on top of wages. Small businesses pay more per employee than large employers for the same coverage.
Workers' Comp
Your workers' comp premium is a percentage of payroll that varies by industry. Construction and trades run high, office roles run low.
Payroll Taxes
Employer payroll taxes alone add roughly 11 percent to every salary before you spend a dollar on benefits or insurance.
Administrative Costs
Payroll processing, HR software, and compliance tools add a fixed cost per employee that most owners never track.
Turnover
Every departure means recruiting and training costs. High turnover pushes your effective burden even higher because you pay to replace people you already trained.
Your payroll burden will appear here
Enter your employee count and average salary to see your true labor cost breakdown, including all employer taxes and insurance.
How this works
Payroll burden includes employer-side FICA (7.65 percent), FUTA (0.6 percent), state unemployment tax (SUTA), benefits, and workers' comp. This calculator uses Florida's new-employer SUTA rate of 2.7 percent by default. Your actual SUTA rate varies based on your claims history. Benefits and workers' comp rates are customizable to match your actual costs. The burden rate shows your total employer cost as a percentage of base wages.